TRP: Mishka and Rieka (Mind Reading)
Day 375. After rescuing Bakir, Mishka is concerned about Hansel, who is seasick due to ocean-related PTSD. He encounters Rieka while fretting over Hansel. He didn't want Hansel to see he was fretting. Hansel didn't always like being looked after-- sometimes it sent him into a panic-- so Mishka often tried to do it without Hansel noticing, skirting around the edges, making sure that Hansel was fed and safe and healed without letting Hansel know that's what he was doing. Hansel needed tasks to keep himself occupied. Distract himself from the horrifying trauma of being at sea again. (If they wrecked, Mishka would take care of him. He'd find a piece of deck big enough to draw a teleportation circle on and bring them home. All good. Mishka had thought about this a lot.) Hansel elected to make dinner, which was good. Mishka sat on the counter of the kitchen, passing him ingredients and making smart remarks, pinching his ass occasionally, It seemed like it was working, as far as distractions went. ABBY Bakir was fine, and so was Ensign. Poor kid had escaped her fussing as soon as he was able, and Rieka took the hint. Lot going on, for him. Family and shit. Overwhelming. So she'd gave Ensign a big hug, teased him about getting himself kidnapped, and asked him about the crew he'd hooked up with. He seemed to think they were okay, and that was a glowing endorsement from Grumpy as far as Reika was concerned. They'd scattered over the ship a bit, so Rieka followed her nose. Right down to the galley where the big orc guy was cooking, and that freckely elf was hanging out too. "Smells good," she said, settling in an empty chair. "There enough for one more?" COYOTE Mishka sat up straight, wide-eyed, and stared dead at her. He tapped his hand on the counter urgently. Opened his mouth and pointed at her to speak, but nothing came out. ABBY Rieka shot him a puzzled look. "Uh. You okay? You ain't choking or anything are you?" IZZY Hansel patted Mishka with one hand and kept working with the other. COYOTE "Motherfucker!" Mishka said. "What's your fucking name? God. You told me last time. You told me!" He jiggled Hansel urgently, like Hansel might know. Hansel did not. ABBY "Uhh." Rieka squinted, trying to place the guy. Nope. Didn't look familiar at all. Then again with the amount of time she spent in a drunken haze (all of it), not surprising she forgot. "Rieka Wolfsbane," she said. "We met? I don't remember that." COYOTE "Rieka!" Mishka said. "I knew it. Tip of my tongue. Rieka. Rieka. I'm gonna remember that." Goro said to use mnemonics. "Um, hm. What's a way to... maybe... I'll remember you as... Ry-can't I remember your name. Rieka. Ry-can't. There. That'll help." IZZY "S'clever, ahuvi." ABBY "Uh sure, whatever helps." This guy was a little weird. Rieka liked weird people. The weird guy and the calm straight man duo? That got a grin out of her. "Now what about you guys names? C'mon, I told you mine, you tell me yours," she said, grinning. COYOTE Mishka pointed to himself emphatically. "Mishka." Wait, fuck. Did she know him by the other name? "Bell. No, wait. Haeth. Mishka Haeth. Mikhail! Haeth. Mikhail Haeth." Then, as an afterthought, he pointed to Hansel and said, "Hansel." IZZY "Aye." ABBY Rieka just stared and blinked for a second. Mishka Bell Haeth Mikhail Haeth-- wait. Mikhail Haeth. "You motherfucker!" Rieka didn't know if she was delighted or irritated. "You! Again! Here!" COYOTE "I know! What the fuck!" ABBY "Am I stalking you or are you stalking me?" COYOTE "I'm not stalking you," Mishka said. "And frankly it's fine if you're stalking me. I'm sure lots of people are." ABBY Rieka cackled. This guy was a piece of work. "Yeah yeah, well it's an accident," she said, and threw her boots up on the table. Dug around for her flask and took a sip. "I think whenever I meet you it is... some of the most trouble I'm ever in," she said, squinting at him. "Fucking throwing me overboard," she grumbled. COYOTE Mishka started to laugh. "Oh yeah. I did, uh. I did do that, huh." ABBY "Uh huh, you did," Rieka said. "With the rowboat. And the autograph. I still got that fucking thing." She tilted her flask towards Mishka, silently offering to share. COYOTE Mishka took it. "You have an autograph from me? That doesn't sound right. I don't remember that." ABBY "Hey, I got it right--" Rieka started digging in her pockets. Where had she shoved that thing? "Okay right," she grabbed her pack and started digging around in that. "Ah-hah!" she crowed, shoving a dirty, torn, and crumpled piece of paper at Mishka. COYOTE Mishka raised his eyebrows at it. It said, To my biggest fan. Kisses, Mikhael Haeth. "This is a forgery," Mishka said. ABBY "Hey!" Rieka scowled, offended. "You shoved that in my pocket just before you dumped me overboard. Sides do I look like the sort of person that can forge this shit?" COYOTE Mishka tapped the note. He kept his face straight and tried his absolutely fucking hardest not to smile. "My name is spelled wrong," he said. "This is spelled M-I-K-H-A-E-L. My name is spelled M-I-K-H-A-I-L. See? This autograph is worthless. It's an obvious fake." IZZY Hansel glanced at it and deadpanned, "Aye. Ain't your name. Damn shame." ABBY Rieka glanced between the two. And then started squinting. That was not the face that she'd seen last time she ran into Haeth. Maybe there was a reason for that. "Or maybe," she drawled, taking her autograph back, "you ain't who you claim to be." COYOTE Mishka took the mask off his belt and popped it on, making himself look like his old glorious self. Sleek golden hair, unblemished ivory skin, a perfect-sized nose, no scars, no marks, no nothing. "I'm a shapeshifter," Mishka said. "I'm usually not who I claim to be. But I am this time, I mean." ABBY Well that was a trick. "Huh," Rieka said, leaning back and taking it in. "Or, you're just some nobody shapeshifter who decided to take a famous pirate's name." She grinned and toasted him with her flask. COYOTE "Y'know what? That's good too. I'll take that. You can believe that. I like it. Makes me look clever." ABBY Rieka considered for a second. "Nah. You're too much of a dick to not be Haeth," she declared. COYOTE “See? There you go. If it helps, I remember the first time I met you, I threw you overboard. Second time we were in jail. Third time... I think you were drunk. Fourth time—“ Mishka went silent, feeling awkward and uncomfortable. ABBY "I think the only time we met I was sober was the first time," Rieka said dryly. She took another drink. Fourth time had been when he'd been really down and asked Rieka to kill him. He seemed to be happier now though. "Hey so how'd all that 'I wanna die' stuff work out for ya?" she asked. "Y'seem to be, uh, better now?" COYOTE Mishka flinched. Hansel was already dealing with the stress of being at sea again; he didn’t want Hansel to have to deal with the stress of listening to Mishka explain what happened to Rieka. Mishka slid off the counter. “I’m gonna go catch up with Rieka on deck, neshama. Be back soon.” He wrapped his arm around Hansel’s waist to squeeze his hip, then kissed his shoulder, briefly. IZZY Hansel gave him a mildly puzzled look, because he hadn't been paying much attention, but that seemed kinda sudden. "Aye, cap'n," he said, half teasing, and kissed Mishka's head. ABBY All right, talking on deck then. "I'll be back for the food later, uh--" crap what was the orc's name again. "...dude." There. Nailed it. Rieka followed Mishka out onto the deck. Wondered if there was any particular reason he wanted to run them out here. Decided against asking about it. COYOTE As they walked, they passed Larkin, Goro, and Bakir, and Mishka steered Rieka away from them, flashing Bakir as smile as they passed. "So, that's my husband," Mishka said. "Turns out he's not dead. Crazy, huh?" ABBY "Oh really?" Rieka-- Rieka should be happy about that. "That's uh, that's... good. For you." She needed a drink. She needed a lot of drinks. Her magic flask was so worth all that gold she spent on it. (No matter what Flag said.) Rieka chugged from it until she had to stop, the rotgut in it burning and choking. "Lucky, lucky pirate, you," she slurred, clumsily attempting to pat Mishka on the shoulder. "Did good. Husband 'live. S'good." COYOTE Huh. That alcohol hit her fast. Probably working on an empty stomach. "Yeah," Mishka said distractedly. "It's... it's very good. I missed him." So fucking much. "Are you okay?" ABBY "Nah, nah," Rieka waved off Mishka's concern. "If I was okay would I be drinkin' like this?" she joked, swaying more than she should be. "S'fine. It's been years. I've survived. Don't worry about it." COYOTE "I'm sorry," Mishka said. "About your fiance, I mean. It must be, um, tough, to come back and... my husband, alive, and such... y'know..." ABBY Fiancé. Her fiancé. Rieka hugged herself, mentally trying to slam that can of worms shut again. This is why she didn't talk about it. Even the word... Hey, wait a second. "How'd you know about that?" Rieka asked, her voice pitched low. COYOTE "You told me," Mishka said, puzzled. "When you were drunk. It was incredibly vivid, it was almost like I was reading your m... hmm. Mmm." Mishka choked on what he was about to say. ABBY "I haven't told anyone," Rieka said flatly. She took a step towards Mishka, anger curling in her stomach. (Anger meant something else was the problem, someone else. Anger meant someone else should hurt.) "Like reading my what? My mind?" She grabbed for Mishka's shirt. "Were you in my fucking head?!" COYOTE "Uh." Mishka took several steps backwards. ABBY Rieka's hands curled into fists and dropped down by her sides. "You stay outta my head!" She yelled. The anger in her voice cracking into pain. "Fuck off and leave me alone!" COYOTE "Well, it's not like it hurt you!" Mishka said. "I just-- you wouldn't tell me what was wrong!" ABBY "Oh so you did around in my head to find out instead?! Like you got any right to be in there! Not all of us like to dump our problems on some random jackass when we get drunk!" COYOTE "Right, exactly, but I needed to know, so," Mishka said. "That's, um, why I read your mind... you know what? You know what. I think, um. It's possible--" He almost said, It's possible I see your point, because it occurred to him, briefly, that he shouldn't do things to people they didn't consent to, but instead, Mishka said, out loud, "You're very upset about this, huh. It's not that big of a deal." ABBY "Not a big deal?!" Rieka gripped her hair, a broken laugh bubbling out of her chest. "Sure yeah. Dig around in my head, find the-- the thing that's killing me, the thing that makes me think maybe someone oughta put me outta my misery. Twist that out, and flaunt it in front of me. 'Look at what I know, what I did to get it.' Fucking fine, its not a big deal. Probably deserve it anyway. Not like I should forget, right?" Rieka squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. She couldn't do this. She staggered towards the ship railing. Needed something to hold on to. COYOTE "I'm sorry," Mishka said. "I'm sorry. I-- can I do anything to help you?" She wasn't about to jump overboard, was she? ABBY "Fuck off," Rieka said. She gripped the railing, breathing in the sea air. Don't worry boss. I got the message. Not gonna try to jump. Had no idea if her patron heard but, couldn't hurt right? COYOTE Mishka, obediently, fucked off. end Category:Text Roleplay